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This page is for the History Fair papers. Nikolaisdead Greenymaster117 Paper The entire population of the world could fit in an area the size of Texas if it were as dense in population as New York City (National). From the Home Insurance Building to the Burj Khalifa, the skyscraper has shaped the skyline of every major city on earth. A skyscraper is a building that is supported by an internal steel skeleton as opposed to exterior load bearing walls. The two most prominent cities in early skyscraper construction were Chicago and New York. Chicago developed the first Skyscraper, The Home Insurance Building. New York soon followed with the World Building and the Fuller building sparking the great skyscraper race. The race lasted 45 years and culminated in the construction of the Chrysler building. Chicago and New York's skyscraper race reshaped cities by redesigning their faces and images, providing ample space for life and recreation, and moving jobs from the production line to the paper shredder, all of which have been used every city today. ' '''With increasing populations and city space staying the same there was only one direction to go, up. Traditional masonry buildings were unable to expand far enough up to support the population increase. In Chicago, the population doubled in between 1880 and 1890 (Dupre 15). A new technique was needed. The steel industry was monopolized by Andrew Carnegie (The Men 2) and allowed steel frames to be added. ' '''Chicago and New York were the first two cities to “beta test” this method. The newer city of Chicago wanted to be seen for more than its pigs and the older city of New York wanted to remain the largest and best city in America. The race started with the Home Insurance Building built in 1885 and lasted for almost five decades. The results have lasted for more than a century. More than 100 years later, this building is still the model for new cities today. The Home Insurance Building is considered the first skyscraper. It was the first building to have a steel skeleton. It was 180 feet tall. Unknown to the innovators, the building would be the first test of a method that would allow skyscrapers to be built more than ten times the height of this first building. The building was a huge success. It also added elements of elevators and electric lighting to Chicago. The skyscraper was a huge success and was implemented across the city. The innovation of the skyscraper did not fall on deaf ears in New York. The World building was the first New York skyscraper and was close to twice as tall as the Home Insurance Building (World). The Flatiron building was also built in New York at this time and was also taller than the Home Insurance Building. Combined these two were a clear challenge to Chicago's style. New York at the time was a larger city and had many more established architects. From this point a race was inevitable. Would the New town beat New York or would New York prove itself to be a superior city? Chicago was able to increase it’s ceiling with the Monadnock Building and the Fisher Building (Fisher). The Monadnock Building was 10 ft taller than the Home Insurance Building and the Fisher Building was 90 ft tall. These were Chicago's tallest buildings before 1900. At this point New York’s tallest building was The Park Row building at 391 ft tall (Park Row). It was completed in 1899. This was the first time that New York had more than a 100 ft lead on Chicago. The turn of the century yielded a new era of technology which enabled buildings to be built higher. The Park Row Building remained the tallest building in New York until the Singer Building (Singer). It rose more than 600 feet into the air. It was by far the tallest building in the world until, the next year, the Metropolitan Life Building (also in New York) overtook it (Dupre 27). Soon, in Chicago, the Tribune Tower (Built in 1922) rose to a height of more than 450 ft (The Tribune). However, it was still not enough. New York pulled ahead with the Woolworth Building at almost 800 feet (Dupre 29) and finally the Chrysler Building. (Chrysler PBS) The Chrysler Building was 1,047 feet tall and was the first man made structure to surpass 1000 feet. The Chrysler building truly showcased the power of companies. Everyone knew the Chrysler Building. Even a building as tall as this was again surpassed by another New York Building. The Empire State Building. Finished in 1931, This was the last supertall skyscraper built for 40 years. Chicago had lost the race. However, the results were better than either city could hope for. This race had created the blueprint for the next era of cities across the globe. Buildings could be built 8 times as high as 50 years ago. Cities had gone from sprawling to stunning. The race changed cities by reshaping their faces, allowing a greater population density, and centralizing companies. Everytime you look at a skyscraper in any city across the globe, thank Chicago and New York for giving the world the means and the motivation to make it. Category:History Category:Fair Category:HistoryFair Category:History Fair Category:Paper Category:Papers Category:Page Category:Pages